Leann Harris - Guarded Secrets

The older man darted around his desk and charged across the room. “I pay for results. You got me nothing.”

The younger man didn’t like being threatened. “I’m not the one whose life will go in the dumper if that information is found.”

The older man’s eyes narrowed. “No, but you’ll have done the crime without being paid.”

“I can walk away anytime.” He turned and walked to the door.

“Okay, okay,” the older man huffed, adjusting his attitude. “Get me the proof and I’ll double your fee to ten thousand.”

The younger man nodded and left the other man standing in the middle of the room. He wasn’t the one who’d go the jail. Mr. Self-Importance would. He wouldn’t go to jail again for anyone. If Mr. Self-Importance wouldn’t take the fall voluntarily, his death would solve the problem.

W hen they walked into the Pizza Palace, it wasn’t hard to spot the twins. Once the twins got a look at Jon, they raced across the room, dodging tables and people, and threw themselves at him.

He scooped the girls into his arms and kissed each one. They giggled.

“Uncle Jon, I’m so glad you came,” Caren declared as she kissed him on the cheek. She glanced over his shoulder. “Who’s the lady?” she asked in a stage whisper.

“She’s a lady who is hungry. Show me where the pizza is,” he replied.

“On the table,” said Caren.

Connie, the other twin, looked over his shoulder and smiled at Lilly. “Hi.”

“Happy birthday,” Lilly said.

“I’m the older one,” Connie informed her.

“Yeah, but I’m the smarter one,” Caren countered.

He heard Lilly laugh.

As they approached the party table, Dave stood. Jon saw the question in his eyes.

After the introductions were made, Jon pulled Dave aside and told him what he’d found at Lilly’s house.

“Gives credence to what she said earlier about his death not being an accident,” David observed. “The search of both her and her ex’s place says someone’s looking for something. But what?”

“I don’t know, but it gives this case a different angle from what we thought, Dave. I think we’re going to have to look at the victim much more closely.”

Dave glanced at Lilly. “You think she’s involved in any way with Peter’s murder?”

Jon remembered her reaction to the break-ins, and her words earlier about Peter going back to church. “I don’t think so.” He had that gut feeling cops got when interviewing witnesses and suspects that told them if someone was telling the truth. “So far there’s no evidence pointing in any way to her.”

Dave sighed. “There’s no evidence for anything, Jon. These break-ins occurred out of the blue. You know that. We have to go back to square one and look at everything again.”

“I know.”

Dave pinned him with a look. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“No.” But there was, his heart yelled.

Dave held Jon’s gaze.

“She was hungry. I was hungry.” Jon glanced at the twins, then met Dave’s gaze. He didn’t say anything, but let Dave see his pain. Jon missed his girls and having Lilly here helped.

Dave clapped him on the back. “Let’s go join the party.”

“You married?” Caren asked as she took a bite of her pizza. Her big brown eyes held Lilly’s.

“Caren,” Marta, Dave’s wife, gasped. Her daughter peeked at her mother.

“That’s okay,” Lilly assured Marta.

Marta glared at her daughter. “It isn’t any business of yours.”

Caren put down her piece of pizza. “I just wanted to make sure she’s not married. I don’t want Uncle Jon to get hurt anymore.”

Both women stared at her.

Caren went on. “He’s been so sad. His girls died, you know. They were sick. And his wife died of a broken heart. Uncle Jon used to drink and come to the house and fall asleep on the couch. I don’t want to see him sad anymore.”

Marta’s cheeks heated. “I’m glad you love your uncle Jon, but I don’t think your uncle wants you telling people about that time.”

Caren thought a moment, then nodded. “He’s been better since he began going to church with us.” She leaned close to Lilly. “Mom and Dad told us that sometimes he’s real sad, like on our birthday. That’s why he didn’t come join us earlier. But I’m glad you made him come.”

Marta and Lilly sat at the table, stunned into silence.

“Do you have a husband?” Connie asked. She sat on the other side of her mother.

The other twin’s question snapped Lilly out of her shock. “Not anymore.”

The girls traded looks.

“I do have a daughter,” Lilly quickly added to ward off another uncomfortable question. “I think you’d like her. She sometimes works with me at our church’s community garden. You should visit.”

Jon and Dave walked back to the table and sat down.

“What are you ladies talking about?” Jon asked.

Silence greeted his question.

“So you work in the community garden at your church?” Marta asked, ignoring Jon’s question.

Grateful to change the subject, Lilly answered, “I do. I direct the whole gardening operation. It’s turned out to be a wonderful blessing to the neighbors. It’s fun to observe the kids from the area plant vegetables and then watch as they grow. The kids are so surprised when we pull a carrot out of the ground. Or when they see a tomato appear on a vine. They thought carrots and tomatoes came from the supermarket.”

“Don’t they?” Connie asked.

All four adults paused.

“They grow in the ground or on a vine first, then are harvested and sent to grocery stores,” Lilly explained.

“Is that true?” Caren asked her father.

Trying to hide his smile, Dave said, “Yes.”

Lilly leaned close to Caren. “The kids even love eating those carrots.”

Doubt colored Caren’s eyes. “You sure?”

Lilly nodded. “I am. Come down anytime and see the garden. You can even come to the garden and help pull the carrots or harvest the tomatoes yourself. I know my daughter loves to come to the garden and harvest vegetables. It’s work, but it’s fun and you’ll enjoy it.”

The twins glanced at each other. “Okay,” they said in unison.

Lilly smiled at Jon. From his expression, she could tell that he wasn’t satisfied with her answer to what they were talking about. She didn’t want him to know they’d been talking about his wife and daughters.

Jon studied each girl. Caren calmly ate her pizza, the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. Connie giggled as she ate.

“It’s a girl thing,” Lilly whispered. “You don’t want to know what we were talking about.”

Jon cocked his head.

“The pizza’s good. Try some,” Lilly said.

After a few moments, Jon shrugged and started eating pizza.

As the evening progressed, the twins retreated to the restaurant’s video game arcade. They pulled Jon from one machine to the next. He was happy to help bowl on a screen or drive a digital car.

“Mom, Mom, c’mon,” Caren called.

Marta joined her daughters.

Dave studied Lilly, who was still sitting at the table. “I’m sure the girls asked you a million questions about your personal life. I hope the girls haven’t offended you.”

She shrugged. “They’re just curious.”

“Speaking of girls, your daughter wasn’t with you at your house, was she?”

“No, I let her stay with my cousin after what happened at Pete’s place.”

He nodded and looked at his partner.

“I didn’t ask Jon to bring me here tonight,” she added, trying to reassure Dave.

His gaze returned to her. Sighing, he glanced down at the table. “I believe you.”